Whenever I hear statements like that (that the musical/movie industry is growing thanks to piracy, etc), the only logical question for me is - why are they fighting it so hard then?
I mean, they are fighting the various P2P sites and users for years, spending large amounts of money on various legal fights and lobbyists. The wouldn't do this if it really didn't hurt their sales.
People can say "they are doing it because they are stupid". Well, maybe they are, but they also have far better statistics than we have. They know far better what is hurting their sales.
I am not really arguing for copyright industry here, but I am just saying - if it didn't hurt them, they wouldn't be fighting it so hard.
If they did nothing, their silence would be taken as assent. There would be a critical point of social acceptance past which the number of people actually paying for their product would rapidly drop to an unsustainable level. They work to keep it from reaching that point.
Because of the power inversion. Historically they get to decide what will make money and when. It is frightening to them that all of that power and control can be taken away by a couple of guys in Sweden with a few servers.
I mean, they are fighting the various P2P sites and users for years, spending large amounts of money on various legal fights and lobbyists. The wouldn't do this if it really didn't hurt their sales.
People can say "they are doing it because they are stupid". Well, maybe they are, but they also have far better statistics than we have. They know far better what is hurting their sales.
I am not really arguing for copyright industry here, but I am just saying - if it didn't hurt them, they wouldn't be fighting it so hard.